3 minute read
Book Report: Bebes, Beauty & Bees
Book Review
Bébés, Beauty & Bees by Amanda Hampton Bravender
Every now and then, a book arrives on my desk that feels like a friend. Amanda Hampton Bravender’s Bébés, Beauty & Bees: Making Fancy Look Easy is exactly that kind of book. It’s a joyful, deeply personal blend of recipes, beauty rituals, and heartfelt storytelling wrapped in coffee-table beauty.
Raised in Harvey and building roots in Madisonville, Amanda brings together the traditions of her South Louisiana childhood with the grounded creativity of her life as a mother, homesteader, and beekeeper. The result is a cookbook that is both practical and whimsical. Yes, there are delicious recipes, from her famous mini apple pies to airy zucchini bites and rustic vegan breads. But woven between those pages are stories about her family, her bees, and the rhythm of lives built and rebuilt with intention.
Amanda is a hairstylist and makeup artist by trade. You see that sensibility throughout the book, where she shares simple beauty rituals that feel less like tutorials and more like passed-down secrets. Think honey face masks, hair-care tips, and the kind of selfcare routines that don’t require a trip to a store but begin with a walk to the garden.
The chapters are organized like a family album. You meet her grandmother and her great-grandmother. You hear about raising five children and rescuing bees. You see how she carries on the legacy of women who cooked, gardened, styled hair, and kept things beautiful in quiet, everyday ways. It’s part recipe collection, part love letter to the women who came before her.
Amanda writes like she talks, which is charming, funny, and poetic. There’s a softness to it, but also strength. This is a woman who builds her own apiary, makes her own bread, and still has time to show up for school pick-up in lipstick and a headscarf.
Even the book itself feels beautiful in the hand. The photographs are warm and personal, the layout clean and easy to follow. It looks right at home on a coffee table or kitchen counter.
If you love stories that come with recipes, or recipes that come with heart, this is your next favorite. Amanda’s life in South Louisiana grounds the book in a place that many of us call home, but her message is universal. You do not have to be fancy to make things beautiful. You just have to love the life you’re building.
“You don’t have to be fancy to make things beautiful. You just have to love the life you’re building.”
Mini Apple Pies with Honey and Cinnamon
Ingredients
• 1 package refrigerated pie crusts
• 3 apples, peeled and finely diced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a bowl, toss apples with lemon juice, honey, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour.
Roll out pie crusts and cut into 3–4 inch rounds. Place a small spoonful of filling in the center of each.
Top with another crust round and crimp edges with a fork to seal.
Brush tops with egg wash.
Bake for 18–22 minutes or until golden.
Let cool slightly, then enjoy warm.
